Sermon -- 4th Sunday in Advent (December 24, 2023)

LUKE 1:26-38

HOW WILL THIS BE?

In the name + of Jesus.

     The angel Gabriel told Mary many amazing things about the baby whom she would birth.  Here is a brief summary.  His name would be Jesus.  That is the Greek version of his name.  It means Savior.  The Aramaic version of his name, which is almost certainly what Gabriel said to her, is Yeshua.  That means “the Lord saves.”  It would be both his identity and his job description.  He is the Lord who saves.  Gabriel also said that he would be the Son of the Most High.  Gabriel did not suggest that this child would be something less than God.  God is one, and there is no other.  Therefore, this child is God—God the Son, but now also Mary’s Son.  Gabriel added this: He would be given the throne of David.  So, he would be a king.  More than that, Gabriel said that he would reign forever.  This child would be an everlasting king who reigns for the glory and for the good of God’s people.

     Several times, St. Luke mentioned that Mary pondered all these things in her heart.  I am sure that she pondered Gabriel’s words for a long time.  It’s a lot to ponder.  Mary did not doubt the angel’s words, nor did she resist what Gabriel gave her to do—which, by the way, was no small matter.  Mary would be the mother of God.  The Lord became flesh in her womb.  She would nurse him, change him, and bathe him.  She would teach him to walk, to speak, and to feed himself.  She would have to endure people scoffing at the idea that her child was special—aren’t they all?  But hers is divine!  Her child is God.  Don’t mess up raising him.  No pressure, right?

     It is amazing, therefore, that Mary had only one question for Gabriel.  That question had nothing to do with what responsibilities she bore in raising him so that he would fulfill what Gabriel said he would be.  But she was confused about one issue: “Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin’” (Luke 1:34)?  And note how she asked.  When Zechariah was told that his aged wife, Elizabeth, would conceive and give birth to John the Baptist, he thought the word from the Lord was foolish.  In essence, Zechariah said, “Elizabeth?!  She’s too old.  How can this be?”  Mary asked, “How will this be” (Luke 1:34, emphasis added)?  She did not doubt that God could do this, but she was curious how.

     This was not the first miraculous conception and birth in the Bible.  Abraham was told that his elderly, barren wife, Sarah, would give birth to a son.  And she did.  Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, had infertility issues.  So did Jacob’s wife, Rachel.  Hannah was barren, but later gave birth to Samuel.  And we heard about Zechariah.  But the difference, and Mary knew it, was this: All these women had husbands.  They may have been old.  They may have been barren.  But they all had husbands.  Mary did not.  “Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin’” (Luke 1:34). 

     In all of human history, there has never been a birth like this.  But that’s because in all of human history, there has never been a child like this.  Mary asked, “How will this be?”  The angel Gabriel gave her an answer.  Despite his answer, it still remains a mystery to us.  Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). 

     The Holy Spirit comes through the word of God.  He does not zap people into the kingdom of God.  The Bible reminds us, “‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).  The Holy Spirit inspired the words of the Scriptures, and he comes through those words to create and to sustain faith.  The Holy Spirit never works apart from the word.  So, as the angel Gabriel spoke the word of the Lord to Mary, the Holy Spirit came to her.  The Son of God was conceived in her.  He is and remains God; for God does not change.  But then God takes the humanity into himself through the Virgin Mary.  Being conceived by the Holy Spirit, he remains sinless.  Being conceived in the Virgin Mary, he becomes a man to make himself one with us.

     Now, all of this is deep theology.  And maybe it seems like there is nothing practical here.  But if you have mourned the loss of a loved one, if you have ever been cheated, if you have been haunted by regrets, if you have ever felt helpless or hopeless or lonely, then you may have wondered, “Does God understand what I am going through?  Does God care about me and my problems and my tears?  Does God know what it is like to feel pain, to suffer mockery, to bury loved ones, to have stress, or to be the victim of injustice?  Does God understand my plight?  Does he care?  Will he help?

     Sometimes, people try to understand the plight of others by putting themselves in their shoes.  Some have taken a mission trip to Haiti and assist people who live in poverty and are trying to recover from a hurricane.  I remember hearing about a movie star who wanted to experience homelessness.  So, he went out to sleep on a street somewhere in a cardboard box.  After his night out on the street (and maybe it was a few nights, I don’t remember), he went back to his Beverly Hills home.  Did he really know what it was like to be homeless?  Does a visit to Haiti for a week really show you what it is like to live in poverty and squalor when you know there is a flight back home?  You may gain empathy, which is sorrow over someone else’s suffering.  But you cannot claim to really have sympathy, which is to suffer what they suffer—not when you know you can go right back to comfort and safety.

     The angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary, and St. Luke has recorded it so that you will know it: God knows and understands and now feels exactly what all these things are like.  How will this be?  God becomes one of us.  God entered our world and took his place among sinners.  There was no escape clause.  There was no ejector button.  In fact, Jesus did not get out of the experience alive.  He experienced pain, sorrow, and loss.  He was a victim of mockery, betrayal, and injustice.  He witnessed sickness, disaster, and death.  He himself was beaten, spit upon, and lashed.  He was crucified, died, and was buried.  God has taken on humanity and invested himself in everything we know except for sin.  So, when you are pouring out your frustrations in prayer, God knows what you are going through.  He can sympathize because he has been there.

     But God’s sympathies go beyond sharing the human experience.  God chose to experience the curse of sin that all people deserve and to endure the torment of hell that you and I have earned.  God chose to die.  How will this be?  For, God cannot die.  God’s very nature is that he is immortal.  But man is mortal.  Therefore, God became a man to suffer the curse that we all have brought upon ourselves by our sins.  St. Paul wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).  How will this be?  How could this be?  God became a man so that he could suffer die for all. 

     How will this be?  The immortal one dies?  The almighty suffers in weakness?  The blessed one is cursed?  The holy one is guilty?  The heavenly one endures hell?  The angel Gabriel told Mary how it will be: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son…  The child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:31,35).  So, in Jesus Christ, God dies.  In Jesus Christ, God pays for the sins of the world.  In Jesus Christ, a man rises from the grave to overpower death.  In Jesus Christ, a man enters heaven to dwell with God the Father forever.  And if you share the confusion of Zechariah and ask, “How can this be?” do not fear.  It is a mystery.  It is revealed by the Holy Spirit, but we still marvel at it.  It’s a lot to ponder.  But rest assured that the word of the Lord is true.  And it guarantees your redemption and your place in the heavenly kingdom.

     “Greetings, O favored ones, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28).  The Lord has become one with you.  He does not merely offer you sympathy and commiserate with you that life is hard and full of troubles.  The Lord Jesus Christ has acted to deliver you out of your troubles.  He may not take away your troubles right now.  After all, this is a sinful world and bad things are going to happen in it.  When you pray for an end to your troubles, God’s answer may be, “Dear child, have patience.”  But in the end, God’s answer will be, “Yes.  I will grant you relief completely and eternally.”  But no matter what, the Lord remains with you. 

     “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30).  The favor of God has been revealed through the Son of Mary.  It comes from the God who became body and blood for you.  It comes through the body and blood which are given to you to eat and to drink.  The Holy Supper is also a mystery.  In Greek, it is called a mysterion / musteriwn (1 Corinthians 4:1); in Latin, it is called a sacramentum.  The mystery is that bread and wine conceal the body and blood which have won forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation.  Some have scoffed at the sacrament and asked, “How can this be?  We see, feel, taste, and smell bread and wine.  How can the infinite God be contained by bread and wine?”  By trying to make the mystery logical, they have forfeited what it is.  Why not ask, “How can the infinite God be contained in a womb?”  But just as Mary did not try to unravel the mystery of the incarnation, we do not try to unravel the mystery of the sacrament.  We let Jesus’ words stand when he tells us, ‘This is my body.  This is my blood.”  Jesus gives us his crucified and risen body and blood.  Through it, he gives the gifts he won—forgiveness and eternal life.  Through it, he sustains us in his divine mercy until he will set us forever free from the evils that plague us.

     Mary did not contest God’s word.  She accepted what God had given her.  She responded to Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).  We don’t know what cross the Lord may have us bear, but we do know the promises he has made.  Jesus has guaranteed his mercy to us all.  Therefore, each one of us can also pledge, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  And—God be praised!—it will be.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.